Acrobatic figure toy.



VA. GUND-LING.

ACROBATIC FIGURE TOY.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29. 1918.

1,272,946. Patented July 16, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET A TTORNEY ms Nwwms PETERS co" PHOTKLLVTNO WASNINGYDN. n. a

A. GUNDLING.

ACHOBATIC FIGURE TOY.

APPLICATION FILED APR 29.1918.

2 IN VE/V TOR B V A TTORNEV Patented July 16, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 rum. wAsumcmu. o. c.

' hcnonnizrrc To'all wlz/omz't-mdg concern." 1 1 Be "iti'knownthat I;ALBERT GUN bLI NG, a oitizen of the U11 itd States; "and resident *of''Jer'sey City,;in the county 'of Hudson and "State *of-New Jersey; haveinvented a new and useful Aerobatic FigureToy; ofiwhichthefollowingisaspecification f f The Oh 'ect of th' s "invention is I toprovide a novel acrobatic" figure toy offentertaining characte'rand'simple construction! Thetoy consists essentially of a sloping ladder anda] figiireiiiaving automatic catches at" its ends, whereby thefigurefwill swing-from rung to rung along the length of'tlie'lladd'er."A- further obj ect is to provide aknfockdown "ladder frame stand; forsuch toy, whi ch shall be of (inexpensive wire rodconstrucition andwhich; 'whenerectecl, shall be rigid and capableof being liftedandDIOVBCl about gas innit] Otherobjeetsand features'of the invention will'becoine apparent as the speci- Tfic'ation, proceeds. g In'the""drawingsfi Q I j Figure 1 is a side;elevation of rthe 'toyin use,showing'diflierentp "sitions of thefigure ,in f'uHandi""broke"" nes; j i

-Fig 2is' p fofthe ladder fraine "collapsed,'-;ip1:erm diateportions 9fthe spreader being brolrenfaway;for econ- 3 Eig. 3"is "agfrontendelevation on a smaller scale, of the ladder [fram'e'f erected; f fFigflis s'tperspective Viewofthe front ibd rd'h 5 i I 1: a 1 Fig. 519%fi e? -e iFig'QG l Fig-Wfi's Sh'own in] the a enlarged of "the a rearview v fthereof';f 3 a side 1 i wof one of the catches i Q n a ng; io eiof l 1 Figs; 8 it d '10 iar'e enlar ed perspective views of thefpartsjof one; o 7 th'e catches;

'lhe preferred form" of the knockdown nude name and i stand firstdescribe "It will*be' lunderstoo d; however, that'I-do'not'limit w ysentothe'pre'cise con-' enuceem A l add'er 1 is' forine d ofinetalsiderods'2 and cross-rodsiorrlings BYSuitably united jherewith; I i The forward"ends of the side Brads 2 are'be n't into upward projectingicyes 4", andtheir opposite ends are formed into upward projecting hooksorincompleteeyes 5, the eyes not being complet'edat this fend because itis not nece'sser to 7 do so. The

' g Application he; rpnm, 1 918 Jll y16,191 8. srial 115,2 1,59 j i otwo areargzlegs 7 Share; preferably united into ione; member-byia topcross 'portion 7 Later- I ally bent portions L8 'join'with the legs andpassroutward through the hooks 5; thence "curving --around-"fbehind the"hooks t. to join :with the cross-portioni. L. This cross-portion, .-bybearingfupon the "side -"r0ds 2 behind1thehoolrs 5, bracesf the legs 6against spreadingrearw'va rd from the operative position seeniH'Flgf. 1. In the other direction, however, the interlinked connectionpermits the rearleg niember to swinginward so as to l'iexflat with;the:laddermeniber, as represented in JJigfQfi V of The front legs 9areshorter than the rear :legshsothat when the frame is erected thelatter is: supp0rted in a sloping position. The interlinked bracingconnection between the'f'orward legs andthe ladder member resembles thatbetween the ladder 1 andf'the rear I; l egs, but at the frontthere is noconnecting cross portionbetween the' legs for a reason "which willappear The front legsarealso made of wire rods and are formed at theirupper ends with hooks l'O; which are I bent laterally outward and-faceinward-with re- 1 spect to'the longitudinal "central 1 plane Theportions 8 of these hooks, corresponding to p'ertions 8 of the rear legme'inb'er, pass outward through the eyes from i the inner 3=sides,"'while thei portions 7 'corresponding ingbracingeffect to thecross-portion 7, bear "upon the'j'side rods-20f theladder -in rearofithe eyesif ln this way the .legs"9 are braced against spreadingforward f'romjthe outw'ard' positionof Fig. 3,;but arefreeflto fhin gein the opposite direction 'and'fmay be unthrea'dedentirely' froni'th g j"gaged; with afront board'l l'ha-rzing a pair v of holes 15 16in; eachside. The lowerends' 17 of the front legs are bent. horizontally inwardto enter the holes .15 andin like manner the ends 18 of the spreaderrocls are bent inward to engage 't-he'holes -16. I

The figure 19 may have any semblance desired. It is of suitable weightand construction. and of a length approximating the distance between therungs 3 of the ladder.

At its opposite ends are catches 20 which cause the figure alternatelyto catch and release the rungs as it swings from rung to The saidlatchand stop are'mounted in a boX-like frame 26. The wall 27 of thisframe I shall term for convenience the back wall. In the upper catchthis back wall is toward the front of the figure,- and in the lowercatch toward the rear, owing'to the fact that the catcheswith' theirchannels are reversed. The stop 24 of each catch is 7 formed in a simplemannerby bending a strip of metal into a flat loop embracing the saidback wall 27, this flattened loop being longer than thewall so that itmay slide in and out thereon lengthwise of the figure. The rear or innerportion of-eachstop is slotted at 28, to accommodate the spring 29 ofthelatch 23. The' said latch is'mounted upon a pivot 30 within the frame26 and adjacent its frontwall'31. The spring 29is connected with a tail32 on the latch, and the wall 31 constitutesan'abutmcntwhich supportsthe latch innormal position against the pull of said spring whilepermitting it to yield ,towardthe stop 24; The side walls of the frame22 have their edges 33 cut on a curveor slant to form one side of thechan- -nel 25. The opposite side of thisichannel is constituted by theouter portion 34 of the latch 23, which1is .bent toward'the sto 24andiwhich is bent or curved so as to correspondgenerally-to theconformation of the inner-edges33 of the channel. I

--Astout spike or peg-35 projects from the seat 'of the figure,for thepurpose which will now appear.

.In. operation. the catch atoneend of the figure, preferably the upperend, is engaged withthe first rung of the ladder,'the figure being heldoutward in the substantially hori I zontal position shown in'Fig. 1. Inthiscondition the bottomjeof the channel 25 rests uponj the rung, thesaid bottom being formed by the latch23 supported by the 7 wall 31offthe framel22f The'figure, now

' .being released, swings downward and forward until its lower catchengages the next jrung of the ladder. As the figure swings waspreviouslyprojecting) and at the same 1 time gravity and centrifugalforce cause the stop of the lower catch to slip out. When 7 the saidlower catch reaches theenext rung of the ladder, its latch 23 strikesthe said rung and springs past and over it. Immediately thereafter theprojected stop 24 of this catch strikes the under. side ofthis rung andprevents further upward swinging of this end'of the figure. The catchwhich was engaged with the first rung now slips off this rung, and theopposite catch becomes fully engaged with the second rung. In thistransferring movement" the-curved or inclined side 33 of the channel iofthe disengaging catch and the curved or inclined lip of the latch 23 ofthe engaging stop cause the figure to slip for a short distance cndwise.These operations are repeated as the figure proceeds along the ladder.At the last rung the figure swings out into the air and then drops in asitting posture, its weight causing the spike 35 to penetrate the board14, sojthat the figure is sustained in this position. V

.lVhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described andillustrated in detail, it will be understood that I do not necessarilyconfine myself as to matters of form, proportion and detail, and thatnumerous changes may be made without departing from the invention.

What I claim as new is: j

1. A toy comprisinga sloping ladder and a figure having catches atopposite ends, and adapted to swing automatically from one rung toanother along thesladder. V

2. A toy comprising'a sloping ladder, a figure, and means at oppositeends of the figure for automatically catching and} releasing. the rungsof the ladder, whereby the figure will swing from rung to rung and dropin a sitting position at the end. i

3. A toy comprising a sloping ladder a figure, and means'atopposite endsof the figure for automatically catching and'rel'easing the-rungs oftheladder, whereby the figure will swing from rung to rung anddrop inasitting position at the end, the figure having a prong in its seat tostick in.abase.-

4. A toy comprising knockdown members adapted to be erected to'form aframe supporting a sloping ladder, and a figure having means at the endsfor alternatelycatching and releasing the rungs of the ladder.

5. A toy comprising a ladder adapted to be: supported in a slopingposition and in combination therewith a figure having auto-'maticcatches at its ends; whereby it will swing from-rung torung, eachof said catches comprising a yielding latch and a :slidable stop.

6. v A toy comprisinga ladder adapted to;

be supported in a sloping position and in combination therewith a figurehaving auto- 1 matic catches at its ends whereby it will swing from rungto rung, each of said catches including a sliding stop.

7. A toy comprising a ladder adapted to be supported in a slopingposition and in combination therewith a figure having automatic catchesat its ends whereby it will 9. A toy comprising a ladder adapted to besupported in a sloping position and in combination therewith a figurehaving automatic catches at its ends whereby it will swing from rung torung, each of said catches including a pivoted spring-urged latch.

10. In a toy, a knockdown ladder frame comprising a ladder member, frontand rear collapsible legs, and detachable longitudinal base members.

11. In a toy, a knockdown ladder frame comprising a ladder member, frontand rear collapsible legs, detachable longitudinal base members, and afront board with which Copies ot this patent may be obtained for fivecents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents,

both the front legs and the base members are adapted to engage.

12. In a toy, a knockdown sloping ladder framecomprising a laddermember, front and rear collapsible legs, said legs and ladder memberbeing so constructed as to interlink and brace each other, and means forconnecting the legs at the base comprising disconnectible stretcherrods.

13. In a toy ladder frame, a ladder member having side rods formed witheyes at one end and a leg structure comprising two legs having laterallybent upper portions passed through said eyes'and a transverse portioncontinuous with and connecting said laterally bent portions andconstructed to bear upon said side rods at the top and in rear of saideyes, whereby a bracing hinged connection is formed.

14. In a toy ladder frame, a ladder member having side rods formed witheyes at one end, and a pair of legs cooperative with said eyes, saidlegs having hooks at their upper ends bent laterally outward and facinginward, said hooks passing through the eyes from the inner sides withtheir free limbs overlying said side rods in bracing relation.

15. A toy ladder frame comprising a ladder member, collapsible front andrear leg members interlinking with the ladder member, basal stretchermembers interlinking with the rear leg members, and a front board havingside openings, the lower ends of the front leg members and the forwardends of the stretcher member bent horizontally inward to enter saidopenings.

ALBERT GUNDLING.

Washington, D. 0.

